


Blatant Favoritism

by michellejones_stacy



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Dum-E and U are the Best Bots, Everyone Loves Peter Parker, Fluff, Gen, Parental Feelings, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, i hate this so much but it took up so much of my time, written while procrastinating on another wip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:48:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27742498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/michellejones_stacy/pseuds/michellejones_stacy
Summary: The bots were little shits who were looking for an excuse to make Tony feel bad for being mean to them, simple as that.Tony wasn't even that mean to them! Was he rude? Yes. Was he rude on purpose, though? Also yes. But was he rude to them all of the time?For the sake of Tony's conscience, he was not going to be answering that question.orDum-E and U like Peter more than they like Tony, and, apparently, so does everyone else.
Relationships: Dummy & Peter Parker & You (Iron Man movies), Dummy (Iron Man movies) & Tony Stark & You (Iron Man movies), Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 6
Kudos: 213





	Blatant Favoritism

**Author's Note:**

> are their actual names spelled Dummy and You, cause... i don't do that, lol
> 
> this is kind of taken from one of my other wips (the one I'm actually supposed to be working on), just a heads up
> 
> the ending is kind of bad cause I sort of lost motivation to continue it, but what can you do, you know?
> 
> feedback is appreciated :)

If there was one thing that irked Tony to no end, it was Dum-E and U.

(Alright, technically that was two things, but, eh, not important.)

He loved them, he did, but they were complete bastards. And it wasn't because they were unhelpful, or annoying, or anything. Well, they _were_ , but Tony had gotten more than used to it and it wasn't such a big deal anymore.

No, the bots were bastards because they liked Peter— _Peter_ —more than they liked him.

To be fair, Tony liked Peter more than he liked himself, too, but that was both not important and not even close to the point he was trying to make.

It just wasn't right! Tony had been with those bots since day one, he'd spent hours of his life, hours that he could never get back, coding and building and working his ass off. The whole reason Dum-E and U were even around at all was because of Tony! The least they could've done was appreciate him!

A laugh, followed by two sets of happy beeps and whirs, rang out from across the lab, and Tony's head snapped up from what he'd been working on to see what was going on.

Dum-E and U had crowded around Peter, who was sitting on the couch. He watched as Peter, smiling and laughing, petted the bots, alternating between the two. They seemed to be competing for the chance to get Peter's hands on them, and Peter was indulging them and going along with it.

The sight made him scowl, just a little bit. Peter was _supposed_ to be helping him fix the suit, which had gotten damaged after Peter's latest run-in with a man who pulled a knife on him. Sure, Tony was more than capable of fixing it himself, but it was more fun when Peter was there to help and offer up some input.

And the whole point of Peter being at the Tower today was so that he and Tony could, you know, bond and. Stuff. Do things. Together. And have fun while doing those things together.

Tony didn't know, okay, he and Peter had only just recently—which meant almost a year, at this point—started hanging out outside of any hero business, and Tony was an awkward piece of warped metal who didn't know how to "hang out" with the people he cared about in a casual setting. And Tony cared about Peter. A lot. Probably at a higher level than he should've let himself get to, really. God, he was going to end up ruining this kid and it would kill the both of them.

Anyway, he wasn't jealous that the bots liked Peter's company more than his, he just. He didn't like the fact that Peter had been here for a couple of months and Tony had been here for _years_ , and the bots' treatment of them was so vastly different.

Though, Tony supposed it did make sense, in a way. Peter had this aura around him. The way he carried himself, the way he treated almost everybody, it all screamed that he was a nice person, and people were drawn to that. And Peter was always nice to the bots, calling them "super-duper helpful," and "the bestest bots ever", when they _weren't_ , and he even brought them treats and surprises from time to time.

Tony remembered the time that Peter had brought the bots stuffed animals. He'd given a regular bear—one with chestnut fur and a soft, dark brown nose—to U and a stuffed white goat to Dum-E.

A _goat_. With soft horns, too.

Both of the stuffed toys had looked a little under the weather—their fur was lightly matted in some places and completely missing in others—which made it obvious that the toys used to be Peter's, and that he was giving them away. Yeah. He'd given the bots his old stuffed animals, _willingly_ , and he'd been happy about it. Dum-E hadn't put his down for weeks—which had caused a lot of issues in the lab, mostly incidents with fire—and U kept the bear close by at all times, even now.

It was safe to say that the reception of the stuffed animals went over well. One could say it went _really_ well. Exceptionally well, even.

The bots were materialistic little shits that loved to get presents, and were also looking for an excuse to make Tony feel bad for being mean to them, simple as that.

Tony wasn't even that mean to them! Was he rude? Yes. Was he rude on purpose, though? Also yes. But was he rude to them all of the time?

For the sake of Tony's conscience, he was not going to be answering that question.

He did make an effort to be nice, most of the time, it was just that the bots were - aggravating. And that was on a good day.

In all seriousness, things between Peter and Dum-E and U had been fun and games ever since the stuffed animal giving. Before that, even. The bots had honestly taken a quick liking to Peter.

And all of that, unfortunately, meant things in Tony's life had started getting a whole lot harder.

"Alright, Parker," Tony said, pushing back from his lab bench and making his way over to the three children that, for some reason, Tony had emotionally attached himself to. "Time to go."

It wasn't _actually_ time for Peter to go back to his apartment yet—they still had until seven, which was a good four hours away. Fortunately, Dum-E and U didn't know that.

He felt kind of bad, deep down, because Peter looked like he didn't want to go and the bots looked like they didn't want Peter to leave.

Which— _ouch_. The bots practically pushed Tony out of the lab every time he went to leave. And when he came back, something was usually on fire, which was part of the reason he spent most of his time in the lab.

Tony just wanted to spend time with Peter by himself. One-on-one. Mentor to mentee. He didn't think that was too much to ask for.

Everybody liked Peter, alright, but no one seemed to take into account the fact that Tony _also_ liked Peter, and Tony didn't usually like anybody. It was a big deal for Tony, to care about a child who cared about him right back, and everyone acted like it wasn't, so Tony felt like he was almost justified in lying to his bots.

Even if it did make him feel like a child-eating monster on the inside.

(He could just tell everyone that he wanted to spend more time with Peter, but. No. Admitting that he cared about someone? And enjoyed their company? And wanted to be around them? No. Definitely not. Tony was pretty sure he'd rather die.)

"What?" Peter pouted, thankfully not looking at anything that told him what time it actually was. "Already?"

Dum-E made a few disappointed beeps, and U echoed them.

Tony just barely managed to keep from rolling his eyes.

"He's not dying, alright, stop it."

"Mr. Stark," Peter said, sounding extremely offended, which Tony didn't even know why he would be. "You gotta be nice to them."

"I'm nice to them," Tony defended, ignoring the look and doubtful sound that Peter gave him. "I _am_. I'm really nice. It's not my fault they don't appreciate me more. _They're_ the mean ones."

Peter gave him a disbelieving look before turning back to the bots who were trying to gain his attention. The bastards.

Tony waited, as patiently as he could, as Peter said goodbye to Dum-E and U, promising them that he'd be back as soon as he could, which would probably end up being tomorrow after he got out of school.

"Okay, that's it, let's go." Tony removed Peter's shirt from Dum-E's grip, almost getting his own finger caught as a result. "He's coming back," Tony said impatiently, placing a hand on Peter's shoulder and beginning to tug him towards the exit. "Promise. Have I ever broken a promise?"

Both of the bots let out mirroring noises, and it sounded like—and it was uncanny just how much—they were saying _yes_.

Peter burst out into laughter as Tony grumbled to himself.

"Aw, come on, Mr. Stark," Peter said as they made their way into the elevator, leaving Dum-E and U making sad beeps behind them. "You know they love you."

Tony snorted as they traveled up to the penthouse. "Yeah, sure. We both know they love you more."

Peter gave a sheepish smile. "'S not my fault." He laughed as Tony ruffled his hair and lightly shoved him out of the elevator. "Maybe if you just said, you know, _thank you_ to them every once in a while, and praised them, they'd stop liking me that much."

Tony doubted that would ever happen. Not him being nice—because he could be nice, if he wanted to be—but the bots changing the way they treated Peter, even if Tony started being nice.

As soon as the elevator doors opened, Tony and Peter walked into the kitchen. Tony didn't know why they immediately ended up in the kitchen, but he wasn't questioning it.

He hopped up on the island, mostly because it was surprisingly comfortable, partly because it, technically, made him taller than Peter—when they were both in their socks, Peter was just a little taller, and Tony couldn't have that—and partly because Pepper wasn't there to tell him not to.

Peter grinned at him, taking a step towards the hallway that led to the bedrooms. "I'm just gonna grab my stuff from my room for when Happy comes by in…" Peter looked at the digital clock display on the stove, the smile slowly slipping off his face, and Tony instantly started pretending like he wasn't listening by looking around the kitchen. "It's only four o'clock." Peter looked back at Tony. "Why is it only four o'clock? Happy comes to pick me up at, like, seven." Tony didn't answer. "We could've stayed in the lab." Still no answer from Tony. "Mr. Stark."

"Hmm?" Tony raised his eyebrows as he looked back at Peter. "Why is it– Oh! It _is_ only four o'clock. How crazy is that. Must've read my watch wrong down in the lab, my bad, kid."

Peter had a confused expression on his face as he looked at Tony, and Tony watched as it slowly transformed into understanding, like an idea had formed in his brain and was presenting itself like a sunrise. Tony knew that he'd been outed—damn it, he knew he should've just sucked it up and gotten over himself—and he knew that Peter was starting to realize that he was jealous of the bots stealing all of Peter's time, and that was unacceptable.

The second Peter figured out just how deep Tony's like—really, Tony loved him, he loved and cared about the well-being of this young, stupid, adorable kid—of him went, the sooner he would leave, because everyone always left at one point or another. Whether it was their intention to or not.

"You wanna watch a movie?" Tony asked loudly, hoping to distract Peter from his thoughts and, hopefully, stop him from saying what Tony thought he was going to say. "I want to watch a movie. Let's go watch a movie." He hopped down from the island and started on his way back to the main area of the penthouse so he could put something on the TV. "I think I'm in the mood for Star Wars, kid, are you in the mood for Star Wars? I–"

Tony cut off because, suddenly, without warning, out of fucking _nowhere_ , there was a Spider-Kid attached to his front. He stared down in surprise at the top of Peter's head, which was buried in his chest, and his hands hovered over Peter's back.

Surprise physical contact was still a - thing for him, but Tony was handling it as best he could. Which meant that he was ignoring the fact that Peter was honest to God hugging him like one of them was going to die, and ignoring the fact that he didn't feel like he could reciprocate.

"Uh," Tony said, ever so eloquently. "Hey, kid." There was a muffled sound in response that sounded a bit like a _hello_. Maybe. He was pretty sure that was what Peter had said. Tony forged on. "Whatcha doing?"

Peter mumbled something, paused, and then lifted his head long enough to say, "It's called a hug, Mr. Stark," before dropping it back down, his hands fisting tighter in the back of Tony's shirt.

"Yeah, Pete, I know what a hug is," Tony responded, rolling his eyes "Just… why, exactly, are you hugging me?"

Peter shrugged but didn't try to say anything else, choosing instead to remain pressed tightly against Tony.

"Okay, cool, this is - nice, I guess."

And it was nice. Kind of. It felt nice to hold Peter like this, to hug him. It was still a little different—Tony was most definitely not a hugger—but. Nice.

Tony hesitantly wrapped his arms around Peter, waiting for, he didn't know, Peter to pull away and laugh and ask what he was doing. It was a very weird fear to have, but one that was still very real in Tony's brain.

He didn't deserve actions of affection, even one as simple as a hug, he knew that, and he was a little on edge as he waited for the other shoe to drop. People didn't just hug other people for no reason—there were always other motivations, a price to pay. Tony knew all of that, he'd had it drilled into his brain at a very young age.

But he couldn't help the way he hoped that Peter was just hugging him to hug him.

Pepper and Rhodey hugged him, of course they did, but they were more careful of his boundaries. And they, for the most part, weren't huggers themselves.

The point was that Tony didn't get hugged a lot, but he really, really, _really_ liked this one.

He and Peter stayed like that for a couple of more minutes before Peter finally pulled away, untangling himself from Tony and shooting him a sheepish grin. "Sorry."

Tony just smiled in response. There was no way he would let Peter know how much he enjoyed the hug—it could've become a reoccurring thing, and Tony wasn't sure he was ready for hugs on that level.

"C'mon, Petey, let's go watch a movie."

Peter brightened up, following Tony as he walked towards the couch. "Does this mean we can watch Star Wars?"

Tony scoffed as they both flopped down on the white couch, Peter pressing up against his side. "No. Pick something else."

"But you said you wanted to," Peter reminded, bumping their shoulders together when Tony scoffed again. "Earlier, when you were trying to stop me from saying how jealous you were that Dum-E and U like me better than they like you."

Tony fake-glared at Peter. "I am not _jealous_." He was. He totally, absolutely, most definitely, was extremely jealous.

Peter shrugged, snuggling in closer to Tony's side and laying his head on his shoulder. "It's okay, Mr. Stark, you don't need to deny it."

"I'm not denying shit," Tony scoffed as Peter began to set the TV up for Star Wars. "I'm stating a fact."

"Pepper said you're not allowed to curse around me. Document it, Friday, please."

"Of course, Peter," Friday said instantly.

Tony shot a betrayed glance at the camera in the corner of the room. "Really, Fri? You too?"

Peter laughed, his eyes crinkling at the sides. "Now I know why Mr. Rhodey calls you dramatic."

"What?" Tony asked loudly. "He calls me _what_? Oh, that _bastard_. I am not dramatic." He ignored Peter's laughs coming from beside him. "Friday, tell Honeybear that we're not friends anymore, and he can kiss his Iron Man action figure goodbye."

" _Action figure_?" Peter asked on a cackle, practically rolling around on the couch.

"I was not aware that Colonel Rhodes had an action figure, Boss."

"Not anymore, he doesn't," Tony sniffed.

Rhodey had an Iron Man action figure, Tony was sure of it. Why wouldn't he? Iron Man was awesome.

He wasn't serious about any of it. Okay, maybe he was half-serious. But. Dramatic? Him? No. Tony wasn't dramatic—he was anything _but_ dramatic. Dramatic was a word that couldn't be used to describe him, not at all. He was down-to-earth and reacted appropriately to every situation he went through. _Everybody else_ were the dramatic ones.

"Dramatic, my ass," he mumbled to himself.

"Friday?" Peter asked.

"Already documented, Peter."

"Thank you," he said, as smug as Tony had ever seen him.

"You know what, Pete," Tony started. "I might just have to block you from coming by for a little bit, to make everyone start liking me more."

Peter laughed. "I think if you do that they'll like _you_ even less."

Yeah, probably.

Tony ruffled Peter's hair, giving the kid's head a light shove. "Start the movie."

They spent the next three hours like that, sitting on the couch and watching Star Wars, occasionally trading teasing remarks back and forth. Tony had a nice time, like he knew he would, but his favorite part of the day came when Peter was leaving.

The kid had just gathered all of his stuff together and was now about to enter the elevator.

“Bye, Mr. Stark,” Peter said, giving Tony a quick hug before pulling away to hoist his backpack over his shoulder. “I’ll come by tomorrow, if I’m done studying in time.”

“Yeah, you have that Spanish test, right?” Tony asked. He smiled in pride when Peter nodded. “I’ll see if I can go and pick you up then, and we’ll go get ice cream, okay?”

“Sounds great!” Peter walked through the open elevator doors, turning around to face Tony when he was inside. “For the record,” he started, a grin on his face. “You’re my favorite.”

Tony was okay with that.

**Author's Note:**

> come find me on [tumblr](https://michellejones-stacy.tumblr.com/)! feel free to send me requests or prompts or whatever, because I have no ideas in my brain right now :P


End file.
